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Blood libels are allegations that a person or group engages in human sacrifice, often accompanied by the claim that the blood of the victims is used in various rituals and/or acts of cannibalism. The alleged victims are often children.

Some of the best documented cases of blood libel focus upon accusations against Jews, but many other groups have been accused throughout history, including Christians, Cathars, Carthaginians, Knights Templar, witches, Wiccans, Christian heretics, Romani people, Mormons, neopagans, Native Americans, Africans, atheists and communists. ^{[citation needed]}

Against Jews

Fresco in St Paul's Church in Sandomierz, Poland, depicting blood libel

The first recorded instance of a blood libel against the Jews was in the writings of Apion, who claimed that certain Jews sacrificed Greek victims in the Temple of Jerusalem. After this, there are no known records of the blood libel brought against Jews until the 12th century legend surrounding William of Norwich, first recorded in the Peterborough Chronicle. The accusation became more common afterward . In some subsequent cases, antisemitic blood libels served as the basis for a blood libel cult, in which the alleged victim of human sacrifice was venerated as a Christian martyr. Many Jews have been killed as a result of blood libels, which continue up to the present day, with the Beilis Trial in Russia and the Kielce pogrom in post-World War II Poland. Probably the most recent high profile claim is that from December 1984, when the Saudi Arabian delegate and President of the World Muslim Congress Dr. Ma'ruf al-Dawalibi, speaking before the UN Human Rights Commission conference on religious tolerance, stated

Jews have indeed been the victims of discriminations throughout the centuries. But why? Let them answer this question themselves. The Talmud says that any Jew who does not drink every year the blood of a non-Jew will be damned forever.^[1]^[2]

A thorough exploration of these various claims was carried out by a group of scholars and distinguished Jewish converts to Christianity from all parts of Europe convened by German emperor, Frederick II which replied to the claims by stating:

Neither the Old nor the New Testament states that the Jews lust for human blood: on the contrary, it is expressly stated in the Bible, in the laws of Moses, and in the Jewish ordinances designated in Hebrew as the 'Talmud,' that they should not defile themselves with blood.^[3]

Against Christians

During the first and second centuries, some Roman commentators had various interpretations of the ritual of the Eucharist and related teachings. ^{[citation needed]} While celebrating the Eucharist, Christians drink red wine in response to the words "This is the blood of Christ". Propaganda arguing that the Christians literally drank blood based on their belief in transubstantiation was written and used to persecute Christians^{[citation needed]}. The Romans were highly suspicious of Christian adoptions of abandoned Roman babies and this was suggested as a possible source of the blood.^{[citation needed]}

In the Mandaean scripture, the Ginza Rba, a supposed Christian group called the "Minunei" are accused of a blood libel by the Jews: "They kill a Jewish child, they take his blood, they cook it in bread and they proffer it to them as food."^[4]

Blood libels in the modern world

Accusations of ritual murder have gradually disappeared from mainstream Christianity, and some child martyrs have been removed from the official Catholic calendar of saints. In the modern world, only radical groups and individuals advance accusations of ritual murder and blood libels.

One claim states that physicians in the People's Republic of China who perform abortions consider the fetus a delicacy and eat it.^[5] The story, reported from Hong Kong by Bruce Gilley, was investigated by Senator Jesse Helms, and gruesome artwork reminiscent of traditional depictions of blood libel was featured in several pro-life campaigns.^[6] The only use for "human fetal tissue" is in the medical research field, particularly stem cell research.^[7]^[8]

File:GoyaBrownComparison.png

Comparison of Brown's cartoon (right) and Goya's painting (left).

Many Jewish groups were shocked in 2003 by the British newspaper The Independent's publication of a cartoon depicting Ariel Sharon eating a baby.^[9] The Israeli government complained to the Press Complaints Commission that the cartoon alluded to the blood libel of Jews eating the children of Christians; Dave Brown, the author, responded by saying that the cartoon was in fact inspired by Francisco de Goya's painting Saturn Devouring His Son and was not anti-Semitic in intent. The PCC accepted Brown's argument, stating "There is nothing inherently anti-semitic about the Goya image or about the myth of Saturn devouring his children, which has been used previously to satirise other politicians accused of sacrificing their own 'children' for political purposes".^[10] The cartoon ultimately earned Brown the British Political Cartoon Society's Political Cartoon of the Year award.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, during his March 2006 failed bid for re-election, said that communists had a history of boiling babies.^[11] "I have been accused many times of saying that communists eat babies," said Berlusconi at a rally of his Forza Italia party.^[11] "Go and read the Black Book on Communism and you'll find that in Mao's China they didn't eat babies but they boiled them to fertilise the fields."^[11] Despite Berlusconi's 2006 denial that he has ever said that 'communists eat babies,' in the 2001 campaign, Berlusconi said "I can organise a conference in which I will prove that communists have really eaten babies and done even worse things.^[11]

In July 2007, American Michael Yon reported that Lieutenant David Wallach, an Arabic translator, had told him about an Iraqi official's allegations that Al-Qaeda in Iraq has baked a young boy and served the boy's body to his family.^[12] These claims were later repeated in articles by the conservative American website World Net Daily.^[13]^[14]

Antisemitic accusations of ritual murder can still be found in Islamist propaganda and in state-sponsored media published in a number of Muslim nations.^[15]

In the 1990s, a number of publications by the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as radio and TV broadcasts in Belarus revived the cult of child saint Gavriil Belostoksky.^[16] The revival of the cult was cited as a dangerous expression of antisemitism in international reports on human rights and religious freedoms^[17]^[18]^[19] and were passed to the UNHCR.^[20]^[21]

On August 2009 leading Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet published a co-ed "They plunder the organs of our sons"^[22] claiming that Israeli soldiers are abducting Palestinians to steal their organs prompting furious condemnation and accusations of an anti-Semitic blood libel from the Foreign Ministry and a rival Swedish publication.^[23]The author of the Aftonbladet article Donald Bostrom, readily admitted that he has no proof the accusations are true and the Palestinians he quoted in his article have since denied making those accusations.^[24] Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the newspaper's decision to publish the story is "a mark of disgrace" for the Swedish press.The liberal Sydsvenskan - southern Sweden's major daily - had harsh criticism for the rival paper, calling it an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. "The article in the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet is as shocking and appalling to us Swedes, as it is to Israeli citizens. We share the dismay expressed by Israeli government representatives, media and the Israeli public," said Elisabet Borsiin Bonnier Sweden's ambassador to Israel.^[25]^[26]Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt distanced themselves from the ambassador's statement and declared that Sweden is a democracy with freedom of speech, and that the state representatives should not interfere with the press^[27]Alan Dershowitz wrote:“ Freedom of speech is based on an open and vibrant marketplace of ideas. No journalist is immune from criticism for bigotry and defamation, even from high-ranking government officials” He also compared the article with medieval blood libels that falsely accused Jews of killing Christian children in order to use their blood for religious rituals and notorious Czarist forgery, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.He noted: “One expects this sort of thing from Iranian or Syrian newspapers, but not from Swedish papers”^[28]

References

^ Israeli, p. 170
^ Cohn-Sherbok, p. 326
^ Blood Accusations by Richard Gottheil
^ Ginza Rba 9.1
^ "Fetus Feast". Snopes.com. 2007-02-03. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
^ Chinese Eating Fetuses: Christian Pornography
^ "Human-tissue-use". Office of Human Subjects Research, United States National Institute of Health. 2000-09-20. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
^ "ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR THE USE OF HUMAN EMBRYONIC OR FETAL TISSUE FOR EXPERIMENTAL AND CLINICAL NEUROTRANSPLANTATION AND RESEARCH". Network of European CNS Transplantation and Restoration. 1996-02-21. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
^ Bunder, Leslie. ""Grotesque" cartoon award". Something Jewish. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
^ Bryne, Ciar (2003-05-22). "Independent cartoon cleared of anti-semitism". Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Berlusconi's communist claims". Sydney Morning Herald. 2006-03-27. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
^ "Baqubah Update: 05 July 2007". Michael Yon. 2007-07-05. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
^ Unruh, Bob (2007-07-19). "More cases of terrorists 'baking' children cited". World Net Daily. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
^ "Report: Al-Qaida bakes little boys". World Net Daily. 2007-07-13. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
^
Examples of these antisemitic accusations in the modern Muslim world include:
- In 1986, Defense Minister of Syria Mustafa Tlass authored the book The Matzah Of Zion. The book renews the anti-Jewish ritual murder accusations of 1840 Damascus affair and alleges that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a factual document. (Frankel, Jonathan. The Damascus Affair: "Ritual Murder," Politics, and the Jews in 1840, pp. 418, 421. Cambridge University Press, 1997. ISBN 978-0-521-48396-4)
- In 2001 an Egyptian film company produced and aired a film called Horseman Without a Horse, partly based on Tlass's book.
- The TV series Ash-Shatat ("The Diaspora"), sponsored by the Syrian government, depicts Jews engaging in a conspiracy to rule the world, murder Christian children, and use their blood to bake matzah. (U.S. Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2004 - Syria February 2005, Written statement submitted by the Association for World Education, a non-governmental organization on the Roster Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and All Forms of Discrimination. Question of Violation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in Any Part of the World. Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. UN Commission on Human Rights. 60th session. E/CN.4/2004/NGO/5. 10 February 2004)
- Iranian TV Blood Libel December 20, 2005
- King Faisal of Saudi Arabia accused Jews of a blood libel in Paris. (Gane S. Gerber (1986): History and hate: the dimensions of anti-Semitism. Jewish Publication Society of AmericaISBN 0827602677 p. 88
- Israel Is 'Stealing Palestinian Children's Eyes,' Iranian TV Series Says by Susan Jones (CNSNews) December 23, 2004
^ "Blood Libel" Documentary Broadcast in Belarus - The Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ) Action Alert - campaign against antisemitic programming on state TV. September 16, 1997
^ Belarus. International Religious Freedom Report 2003 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
^ Belarus. International Religious Freedom Report 2006 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
^ Annual Report on International Religious Freedom 2004
^ UNHCR - U.S. Department of State Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 2006 - Belarus
^ UNHCR - Refworld Redirect
^ [ http://www.aftonbladet.se/kultur/article5691805.ab]
^ [1]
^ [2]
^ Swedish newspaper 'blood libel' sparks harsh condemnation[3]
^ Swedish daily hits back at critics of IDF organ harvest story[ http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1108604.html]
^ Bildt, Carl. "Principer och praktik". Retrieved 2009-08-21.
^ Sweden's shame over Israeli 'organ theft' nonstory [4]

External links

Resources > Medieval Jewish History > Blood Libels
Anti-Defamation League condemns Egyptian blood libel
Blood libel in 1840 Syria
Blood Libel, Host Desecration, and other Myths
The Independent – info on Horseman Without a Horse
Blood Feast Snopes.com Info page
Anthony Julius: 'On Blood Libels' on the Engage website
Stevenson, Mark (2006) "Evidence May Back Human Sacrifice Claims", Associated Press news story, accessed September 18, 2006. ^{[dead link]}

Template:Link FA

[1] Israeli, p. 170

[2] Cohn-Sherbok, p. 326

[3] Blood Accusations by Richard Gottheil

[4] Ginza Rba 9.1

[5] "Fetus Feast". Snopes.com. 2007-02-03. Retrieved 2007-10-20.

[6] Chinese Eating Fetuses: Christian Pornography

[7] "Human-tissue-use". Office of Human Subjects Research, United States National Institute of Health. 2000-09-20. Retrieved 2007-10-20.

[8] "ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR THE USE OF HUMAN EMBRYONIC OR FETAL TISSUE FOR EXPERIMENTAL AND CLINICAL NEUROTRANSPLANTATION AND RESEARCH". Network of European CNS Transplantation and Restoration. 1996-02-21. Retrieved 2007-10-20.

[9] Bunder, Leslie. ""Grotesque" cartoon award". Something Jewish. Retrieved 2007-10-20.

[10] Bryne, Ciar (2003-05-22). "Independent cartoon cleared of anti-semitism". Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2007-10-20.

[Berlusconi-11] "Berlusconi's communist claims". Sydney Morning Herald. 2006-03-27. Retrieved 2007-10-20.

[12] "Baqubah Update: 05 July 2007". Michael Yon. 2007-07-05. Retrieved 2007-10-20.

[13] Unruh, Bob (2007-07-19). "More cases of terrorists 'baking' children cited". World Net Daily. Retrieved 2007-10-20.

[14] "Report: Al-Qaida bakes little boys". World Net Daily. 2007-07-13. Retrieved 2007-10-20.

[15] Examples of these antisemitic accusations in the modern Muslim world include:
In 1986, Defense Minister of Syria Mustafa Tlass authored the book The Matzah Of Zion. The book renews the anti-Jewish ritual murder accusations of 1840 Damascus affair and alleges that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a factual document. (Frankel, Jonathan. The Damascus Affair: "Ritual Murder," Politics, and the Jews in 1840, pp. 418, 421. Cambridge University Press, 1997. ISBN 978-0-521-48396-4)

In 2001 an Egyptian film company produced and aired a film called Horseman Without a Horse, partly based on Tlass's book.

The TV series Ash-Shatat ("The Diaspora"), sponsored by the Syrian government, depicts Jews engaging in a conspiracy to rule the world, murder Christian children, and use their blood to bake matzah. (U.S. Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2004 - Syria February 2005, Written statement submitted by the Association for World Education, a non-governmental organization on the Roster Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and All Forms of Discrimination. Question of Violation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in Any Part of the World. Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. UN Commission on Human Rights. 60th session. E/CN.4/2004/NGO/5. 10 February 2004)

Iranian TV Blood Libel December 20, 2005

King Faisal of Saudi Arabia accused Jews of a blood libel in Paris. (Gane S. Gerber (1986): History and hate: the dimensions of anti-Semitism. Jewish Publication Society of AmericaISBN 0827602677 p. 88

Israel Is 'Stealing Palestinian Children's Eyes,' Iranian TV Series Says by Susan Jones (CNSNews) December 23, 2004

[16] In 1986, Defense Minister of Syria Mustafa Tlass authored the book The Matzah Of Zion. The book renews the anti-Jewish ritual murder accusations of 1840 Damascus affair and alleges that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a factual document. (Frankel, Jonathan. The Damascus Affair: "Ritual Murder," Politics, and the Jews in 1840, pp. 418, 421. Cambridge University Press, 1997. ISBN 978-0-521-48396-4)

[17] In 2001 an Egyptian film company produced and aired a film called Horseman Without a Horse, partly based on Tlass's book.

[18] The TV series Ash-Shatat ("The Diaspora"), sponsored by the Syrian government, depicts Jews engaging in a conspiracy to rule the world, murder Christian children, and use their blood to bake matzah. (U.S. Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2004 - Syria February 2005, Written statement submitted by the Association for World Education, a non-governmental organization on the Roster Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and All Forms of Discrimination. Question of Violation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in Any Part of the World. Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. UN Commission on Human Rights. 60th session. E/CN.4/2004/NGO/5. 10 February 2004)

[19] Iranian TV Blood Libel December 20, 2005

[20] King Faisal of Saudi Arabia accused Jews of a blood libel in Paris. (Gane S. Gerber (1986): History and hate: the dimensions of anti-Semitism. Jewish Publication Society of AmericaISBN 0827602677 p. 88

[21] Israel Is 'Stealing Palestinian Children's Eyes,' Iranian TV Series Says by Susan Jones (CNSNews) December 23, 2004

[16] "Blood Libel" Documentary Broadcast in Belarus - The Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ) Action Alert - campaign against antisemitic programming on state TV. September 16, 1997

[17] Belarus. International Religious Freedom Report 2003 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor

[18] Belarus. International Religious Freedom Report 2006 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

[19] Annual Report on International Religious Freedom 2004

[20] UNHCR - U.S. Department of State Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 2006 - Belarus

[21] UNHCR - Refworld Redirect

[22] [ http://www.aftonbladet.se/kultur/article5691805.ab]

[23] [1]

[24] [2]

[25] Swedish newspaper 'blood libel' sparks harsh condemnation[3]

[26] Swedish daily hits back at critics of IDF organ harvest story[ http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1108604.html]

[27] Bildt, Carl. "Principer och praktik". Retrieved 2009-08-21.

[28] Sweden's shame over Israeli 'organ theft' nonstory [4]

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Revision as of 22:30, 1 September 2009 view source 96.30.152.93 (talk) →‎Against Jews ← Previous edit		Revision as of 16:23, 3 September 2009 view source Rm125 (talk \| contribs) 962 edits The second part is cut-inproperly. The rest is explained in disc section. OK to make it shorter you wellcome --~~~~ Next edit →
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	On August 2009 leading Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet published a co-ed "They plunder the organs of our sons".<ref>[ http://www.aftonbladet.se/kultur/article5691805.ab]</ref> ~~The article discussed accusations (which the author readily admitted were unproven)~~ that Israeli soldiers are abducting Palestinians to steal their organs ~~and prompted~~ furious condemnation and accusations of an anti-Semitic blood libel from the Foreign Ministry and a rival Swedish publication.<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1108384.html]</ref> ~~The~~ Palestinians quoted in ~~the~~ article have since denied making those accusations.<ref>[http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=c51177ee-8329-4abc-b927-acf45f19054c]</ref> Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor ~~called~~ the newspaper's decision to publish the story "a mark of disgrace" for the Swedish press.		On August 2009 leading Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet published a co-ed "They plunder the organs of our sons"<ref>[ http://www.aftonbladet.se/kultur/article5691805.ab]</ref> claiming that Israeli soldiers are abducting Palestinians to steal their organs prompting furious condemnation and accusations of an anti-Semitic blood libel from the Foreign Ministry and a rival Swedish publication.<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1108384.html]</ref>The author of the Aftonbladet article [[Donald Bostrom]], readily admitted that he has no proof the accusations are true and the Palestinians he quoted in his article have since denied making those accusations.<ref>[http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=c51177ee-8329-4abc-b927-acf45f19054c]</ref> Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the newspaper's decision to publish the story is "a mark of disgrace" for the Swedish press.The liberal [[Sydsvenskan]] - southern Sweden's major daily - had harsh criticism for the rival paper, calling it an [[anti-Semitic]] [[conspiracy theory]]. "The article in the Swedish newspaper [[Aftonbladet]] is as shocking and appalling to us Swedes, as it is to Israeli citizens. We share the dismay expressed by Israeli government representatives, media and the Israeli public," said [[Elisabet Borsiin Bonnier]] Sweden's ambassador to Israel.<ref> Swedish newspaper 'blood libel' sparks harsh condemnation[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1108554.html]</ref><ref>Swedish daily hits back at critics of IDF organ harvest story[ http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1108604.html]</ref>Swedish foreign minister [[Carl Bildt]] distanced themselves from the ambassador's statement and declared that Sweden is a democracy with [[freedom of speech]], and that the state representatives should not interfere with the press<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://carlbildt.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/principer-och-praktik/\|title=Principer och praktik\|last=Bildt\|first=Carl\|accessdate=2009-08-21}}</ref>[[Alan Dershowitz]] wrote:“ [[Freedom of speech]] is based on an open and vibrant marketplace of ideas. No journalist is immune from criticism for [[bigotry]] and [[defamation]], even from high-ranking government officials” He also compared the article with medieval blood libels that falsely accused Jews of killing Christian children in order to use their blood for religious rituals and notorious Czarist forgery, the [[Protocols of the Elders of Zion]].He noted: “One expects this sort of thing from [[Iranian]] or [[Syrian]] newspapers, but not from [[Swedish]] papers”<ref> Sweden's shame over Israeli 'organ theft' nonstory [http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0827/p09s01-coop.html]</ref>

	== See also ==		== See also ==

Blood libel: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:23, 3 September 2009

Against Jews

Against Christians

Blood libels in the modern world

See also

References

Further reading

General

Jews

Case studies

External links